Top chef shares his 'seven minute' hack for the best roast potatoes ever

roast potatoes in pan

A top UK chef has shared his seven minute hack for the best roast potatoes and we love how easy it is.

Although they're a family favourite, many of us scramble to get our roasties in the oven for Sunday lunch and end up with less-than-ideal, undercooked or overcooked roast potatoes. So instead of resorting to Aunt Bessie's or another easy roast potato recipe, take this advice from a top chef and make your own from scratch this season.

Tom "Westy" Westerland, head chef at The Grill - Crocker's Henley, has shared his amazing tip for the best crispy, golden roast potatoes with the Daily Star.

"This is my trick for our roasties." He said, "I call it the seven-minute shuffle."

“The first important factor is choosing the potato – you need a dirty potato like a Maris Piper or a King Edward. Dirty potatoes have a lower sugar content in so they crisp up better without burning.”

Tom continues, “We peel them and cut them into what I call ‘roast potato shape’ –this is basically as many edges as possible. It's the trick to maximising your crispy edges!”

He says, “We then cover them with cold water and a good handful of salt. Bring them to the boil and then rapidly boil them for seven minutes. Drain them off, and ruffle them in the colander with some rock salt. (This is the 7-minute shuffle).”

If you have any spare at the end of lunch, there are so many recipes for using up Sunday roast leftovers, you certainly won't have to throw them away.

But we doubt that'll happen as the trick seems to really work! The Grill has Sunday roast-lovers coming into Henly-Upon-Thames from all over, keen to get a table at the restaurant for the afternoon.

A photo posted by on

As one person commented on the roasties on their Instagram,'We will be coming to get ours soon 👏🏼💕👏🏼'

And another wrote, 'This looks unreal!!! 🤤 👏🏼'

We certainly agree!

Grace Walsh
Features Writer

Grace Walsh is a health and wellbeing writer, working across the subjects of family, relationships, and LGBT topics, as well as sleep and mental health. A digital journalist with over six years  experience as a writer and editor for UK publications, Grace is currently Health Editor for womanandhome.com and has also worked with Cosmopolitan, Red, The i Paper, GoodtoKnow, and more. After graduating from the University of Warwick, she started her career writing about the complexities of sex and relationships, before combining personal hobbies with professional and writing about fitness.